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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27185467">Is (Not) Gold</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/tentacledicks/pseuds/tentacledicks'>tentacledicks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Illustrated Fic, PWP</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 03:34:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,301</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27185467</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/tentacledicks/pseuds/tentacledicks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She understood <em>why</em> she was being kidnapped, but Jessenia did wonder when her would-be captor might realize that she was allowing it to happen.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Airship Pirate/Opera Starlet She Kidnapped, Original Female Character/Original Female Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Fic In A Box</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Is (Not) Gold</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prinzenhasserin/gifts">Prinzenhasserin</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sweet sound of an inoffensive live band chased them as they fled through the halls; perhaps the ruckus had yet to reach the man hall where the dancing was, or perhaps they'd been instructed to maintain composure for the rest of the guests. Either way, Jessenia found herself grateful for the distraction, and for the way it covered the slap of her bare feet against the marble floors. She’d discarded her heels after nearly breaking an ankle twice, something she certainly hoped her kidnapper appreciated, and her steps were hidden as they fled through the gilded halls of the Palace.</p>
<p>Because Jessenia <em> was </em> being kidnapped. It was, she supposed, a clever enough idea, considering the fame she’d garnered and the amount of money her company would pay to have her back—to say nothing of the Prince, who had been very clear in his intentions when he requested her presence at the Palace. One simply did not refuse him, and he would be frothing with rage when he learned of her capture. If the pirates were canny, they could get a great deal from him before he deployed the military to hunt them down.</p>
<p>She understood why she was being kidnapped. Jessenia did wonder when her would-be captor might realize that she was allowing it to happen.</p>
<p>As they bolted through the halls, the music was replaced by the sound of swords clashing and pistols firing, the royal guards tangling with the pirates that had descended upon the party. A distraction, Jessenia now knew, because those clockwork soldiers were never so bright as to catch on to misdirection, and she spotted the careful way the pirates kept themselves anchored to their ship as she ran past a window. The clockwork soldiers weren’t smart enough to cut the ropes either, and a complicated dance of retreat and attack kept them too busy to respond to alarms deeper in the Palace.</p>
<p>Their captain, a woman with fire-red curls and a shapely figure, dragged Jessenia up to a balcony, her eyes feverishly bright with triumph and glee. A ladder swung just above the railing, its metal rungs cleverly latched together with brass hinges and rods, and soaring just out of range of the Palace’s defense matrix was the ship—a gorgeous beast of an airship, its glittering solar sails glowing in the night, cannons pointed low to destroy any solitary gliders that might try and board it.</p>
<p>“My deepest apologies, Lady Jessenia,” the captain said, proving that she wasn’t nearly as clever or canny as Jessenia thought she might be, “but we’ll have to be making a guest of you this evening.”</p>
<p>“Oh no, anything but that,” Jessenia intoned. She might well have not said anything for all the captain noticed, her boot hooking on the lowest rung of the ladder as she hauled Jessenia up close beside her.</p>
<p>The brass was very cold under her bare feet, but the captain’s body was very warm when Jessenia wrapped her arms around her waist. The shapeliness was not down to clothing either; under the billowing folds of the captain’s coat, her butt was soft and round and her chest was enough to match.</p>
<p>“Hold tight, lest you fall to your death. Away, my lads and lassies! We have our prize!” The captain’s voice rang out over the courtyard as the ladder flew upwards, drawn by some unseen gear. Beneath them, the rest of the crew was yanked upwards as well, many of them holding to their anchor ropes with one hand and their prizes—jewelry, fine silks, stolen pieces of the clockwork soldiers—with another. And farther still, Jessenia spotted the thin and furious figure of the Prince, watching her soar away with impotent rage vibrating through his silhouette, the rest of the party spilling out into the courtyard around him.</p>
<p>Unseen by any of them, Jessenia smiled and tucked her face into the hot curve of the pirate captain’s shoulder.</p>
<p>All in all, a better outcome for the evening than she had hoped for.</p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><hr/>
<p>The airship was not only impressive from afar; upon boarding, Jessenia noted that the brass was gleaming and the wooden decks polished and bright. She knew very little of pirates outside the plots in theater and novellas, and even less about those that had grasped the wonder of flight and turned it to their own means, but she approved greatly of the cleanliness and efficiency with which the crew worked. The captain hadn’t let her go, but the arm around her waist was very nearly companionable.</p>
<p>Jessenia had not moved her hand off the captain’s butt, and was curious to see when she might notice.</p>
<p>“Now you’ll be quite comfortable,” the captain said cheerfully, overseeing her crew as they hastily prepared the airship to set off again. The deck was a cluster of noise and motion, the pirates stowing their loot and hoisting the solar sails, the airship’s gleaming golden wings snapping out as the engines underneath roared to life. “We’ll be nothing but courteous with you, Ladyship, ‘til your ransom is well and paid, never you worry.”</p>
<p>“Not even a little bit of ravishing?” Jessenia asked, disappointed. The captain, entirely too drunk on the rush of a job well done, didn’t notice.</p>
<p>“Not even a little bit. We know how to treat a Lady, yes we do, and we’ve even got a room all set up for you near mine. You won’t be allowed to wander about without one of us watching, of course, but that’s more for your protection. Belowdecks is a dangerous place for a wandering Lady.” The captain’s eyes were a brilliant shade of blue, like the endless sky on a cloudless day, and her muscles tensed with easy familiarity as the airship groaned itself to the side, arcing away from the Palace with a great billowing of sails and flapping of weeks.</p>
<p>She was, in fact, intolerably pretty, and also incredibly oblivious to Jessenia’s attempts to catch her attention. This was clearly not her first time kidnapping a presumed noble or otherwise important person for ransom, and clearly not the first time she’d given this speech. All of her attention was on the crew, on keeping her hand tight around a rope near the mast with the other still firm around Jessenia’s waist, and she still had not noticed Jessenia touching her in return.</p>
<p>That, Jessenia decided, simply would not do.</p>
<p>“I’m not a lady,” she said, before pinching the captain’s butt with great intent. “And I would like to register a complaint about the lack of ravishing in this experience.”</p>
<p> “You—what? You what?” The lovely, clever, vibrant captain stumbled over her words, a flush spreading over her freckled cheeks. Apparently, she’d never had a captive attempt to seduce her in turn. This fact in mind, Jessenia decided that she would simply have to be as bold and offensive about it as she liked.</p>
<p>“I would like to register a complaint,” she repeated, before smiling in a way that the Prince might have called ugly, all teeth and dark red lips. “I expected to be ravished and now I’m told that there will be none of it. What is the point of being kidnapped if a handsome woman isn’t ravishing me?”</p>
<p>The captain stared at her, as if she’d grown several heads, then cleared her throat. “Well.”</p>
<p>Her arm, Jessenia noted, was still wrapped firmly around her waist. There had been no move to shove her away, no attempt to throw her off, and if the pink in the captain’s cheeks was anything to go by, her attentions were not unwanted. Perhaps she ought to be blunt more often.</p>
<p>“Well,” the captain repeated, before shaking her head and losing the poleaxed look on her face. “If we’re going to get to know each other that intimately, your loveliness, I’ll be having you call <em>me</em> Annie. Only seems right.”</p>
<p>A slow, smug smile was pulling at Annie’s lips, a gleam of arrogance in her eyes that made Jessenia want to throw her down on the deck right there. Since that might be a little <em>too</em> bold, she let out a husky laugh instead, leaning in close until she could feel the heat of Annie’s body through the thick linen of her clothes. It seemed that there were two famous women aboard this airship, and Jessenia could only wonder at the fact that for once, she was not the more infamous one.</p>
<p>Mad Annie was mad not because of any genuine insanity—though of course, plenty of nobles had that to say about her too—but because of how willing she was to take risks that most other pirates would not. Her airship was known to be a marvel of engineering, always on the cutting edge of technology, always getting upgrades with every new raid her crew pulled off. The Royal Navy could not keep up with her, nor could any other pirates, and she was a gleeful, wicked presence in the skies above every cowering noble the whole world over.</p>
<p>Perhaps Jessenia should not have been surprised to hear the name at all; would anyone else have been so daring as to steal her out from under the Prince?</p>
<p>“Annie,” Jessenia said, infusing her words with as much rich intimacy as she could. The lively blush on Mad Annie’s cheeks reignited, drowning out the freckles there as her grip on Jessenia’s hip tightened. “Tell me, what must a woman do to get a little ravished around here?”</p>
<p>Annie looked down at her feet, then up at her face. “Well, you’re not wearing shoes, so that helps.”</p>
<p>Before she could question <em>that</em> puzzling statement, Annie tugged her closer and swung her up, startling a gasp of surprise out of her. The muscle in her shapely body flexed as she hefted Jessenia towards the stairs, looking for all the world as if the weight meant nothing to her. The curious statement became clearer when they ducked down into the hold, crossing a catwalk over the rumbling engines of the airship. Had she been wearing those loose heels still, one might have dropped into the great machines, which would have been disastrous.</p>
<p>The dazzling airship was even more dazzling inside. Though the engines took up the bulk of the rear, whatever nautical term there was for it, the catwalk turned into solid floors swiftly enough as they moved deeper into the hold. She could see sturdy metal doors blocking off rooms—perhaps where the crew slept, or perhaps some kind of storage or workrooms—and stairs that spiraled downwards in a cross section that Annie marched right past. There was a galley of some kind, mostly empty right now, and a dazzling room filled with half-rebuilt automatons and some other wonderous machines that they passed right by.</p>
<p>And then, with very little fanfare at all, Annie arrived at her own door, finally setting Jessenia on her feet again as she swung it open. This room was a marvel of its own, bedecked in stolen silks and glittering jewelry, maps and schematics tacked up and around a sturdily built desk that sat under a lamp that swung as the ship tipped sideways in a slow, lazy turn. A massive bed spilled pillows and covers out underneath reinforced windows, the glazing on them frosted over with years of hard use, and Jessenia eyed it hopefully before turning her attention to the other furniture. A mirrored wardrobe, chests of some indeterminate value, and a hard wooden wall beneath her shoulders as Annie kicked the door shut and slammed her into the wall with bruising force.</p>
<p>“Oh,” Jessenia breathed, unable to help the way her pulse fluttered as the motion. No longer was Annie a flushed and stammering fool, shocked into the silliness by the proposition. There was a gleam in her eyes that did terrible things for Jessenia’s breathing. “Is this the part where you take my clothes off?”</p>
<p>Annie barked out a laugh, fierce and wild, before kissing her with a ferocity that matched their wild flight from the Palace. Her teeth caught Jessenia’s lower lip, dragging a gasp from her throat as Annie smeared the lipstick lingering there, sealing their mouths together again a moment later with a hum of satisfaction. The wet heat of her mouth was alien and familiar all at once, her tongue vicious and enticing in turns as Jessenia opened up for her all too eagerly.</p>
<p>One of Annie’s hand dragged up the line of her thigh under the dress, her fingers hooking up the fabric and drawing it up to reveal skin. Jessenia gasped again, the sound swallowed up by Annie’s mouth, her own hands finding their way to the buttons on Annie’s shirt, undoing them as swiftly as she could with their bodies crushed together and Annie’s clever fingers finding the lacings that kept her decently attired. Given how much more quickly Annie was at undoing the laces on her dress, Jessenia suspected that she might be <em>very </em>indecent soon enough.</p>
<p>The straps of her dress slid down her shoulders, Annie’s lips finally leaving her own to trail wetly down the column of her bared throat. She managed to tug the tails of Annie’s coat out of her pants, the buttons undone enough to reveal the enticing glimpse of a bodice and the tops of Annie’s breasts, pale and with the hint of freckles trailing down her skin. But Jessenia couldn’t think on that for long, no matter that her imagination was afire with the idea of finding every freckle on Annie’s body and leaving a kiss in its place—her straps were not the only thing sliding off her shoulders, the black fabric escaping with the aid of Annie’s hands as she pulled it down to reveal the rest of her chest.</p>
<p> “Oh <em>hell</em>, you’re beautiful,” Annie groaned, her hands forcing their way between the wood at Jessenia’s back and the newly exposed skin. Her fingers caught on the fastenings of Jessenia’s brassiere, fumbling with unfamiliarity as Jessenia obligingly arched her back.</p>
<p>“Not even half as beautiful as you,” she said, breathless and meaning every word of it, her greedy hands abandoning the trial of Annie’s clothes to yank at the tie around her bright curls. The brassiere finally gave in, falling before getting caught in the tangle of their bodies, its straps slithering down Jessenia’s arms.</p>
<p>She didn’t have a chance to pull her hands away and divest herself of it entirely, because the moment her breasts were exposed, Annie’s mouth was there, wet and hot as her lips sealed around one nipple. A moan caught in her throat, one leg hitching around Annie’s hips as she arched up into <em>that</em> instead, her fingers tightening in Annie’s hair as if to order her not to leave. It seemed she had no intention of doing so, her teeth catching on the sensitive bud for a second before her tongue was there to soothe it again. Liquid fire pooled in Jessenia’s belly, a ragged gasp tearing out of her as Annie rocked into her body and suckled until it seemed like she’d leave her raw.</p>
<p>“Oh damn,” Jessenia swore, head tipped back against the wall as she tried to drag Annie to her other breast. “Oh <em>damn</em>.”</p>
<p>The none-too-gentle encouragement finally yielded results, Annie’s mouth finally leaving its chosen victim as she fisted her hands under Jessenia’s thighs, hitching her up higher. For a second, Jessenia felt like a fool; the cool air of the room was equally tortuous on the wet peak Annie had left behind, and her fingers were so tangled in Annie’s hair that she couldn’t free them to ease how oversensitive it had become. But then Annie’s lips closed around its companion and she remembered exactly why she’d demanded the attention there.</p>
<p>As she arched up into the heat of Annie’s mouth, she finally managed to get one hand free, first of Annie’s hair, and then of her own clothing. It took a minute longer to free the other one, a fight unaided by the way Annie rolled her nipple between her teeth and sent her up on her toes from the sheer pleasure of it, but she eventually managed. And the whole while, Annie’s hands were there, yanking at her dress and gripping her thighs with bruising ferocity, every touch burning with hunger as it left its mark.</p>
<p>Finally, her dress gave way, falling past her hips and tangling briefly around her thighs before pooling on the floor at her feet. The rough texture of Annie’s jacket and pants was nearly too much on her oversensitive skin, but Jessenia pulled her close anyways, finding Annie’s mouth the moment she pulled off her breast with a wet pop. This time, Jessenia was the one driving her tongue into Annie’s mouth, as vicious as she liked because she couldn’t think of any other way to ask for what she needed. She <em>ached</em> with longing, the wetness between her thighs maddening as Annie pushed between them, and words had left her completely.</p>
<p>Almost completely, at least, because when Annie pulled away again, Jessenia hissed, “Your mouth belongs on <em>me</em>, Mad Annie.”</p>
<p>“Oh, your Ladyship, it will be,” Annie breathed in return, the flush on her face betraying how eager she was. But rather than return to the first nipple, now feeling sorely neglected, Annie dropped to her knees and shrugged out of her jacket. She littered kisses down the line of Jessenia’s belly, her beautifully blue eyes so dark in the bedroom when she looked up as if to ask permission.</p>
<p>Realizing where this was going, Jessenia hitched a leg up over Annie’s shoulders. She needn’t do anything more, not when Annie heard the command loud and clear, dropping her mouth to the eager jut of Jessenia’s clit, swollen and aching with the need to be touched.</p>
<p>The first touch of Annie’s mouth was like being caught by bottled lightning, electric and sudden. Jessenia’s hips jerked, her lips parting on a soundless cry as her hands found the tangle of Annie’s hair again, the curls winding tight around her fingers as she canted her hips forward. The slow drag of her tongue was a torture of its own, so pleasurable that it bordered on pain, but when Annie sucked, Jessenia could hold the noise in no longer and moaned her name.</p>
<p>With a soft moan of her own—one that made Jessenia rut her hips forward, involuntary and demanding all at once—Annie lavished attention on her, lips and tongue circling the nub as her fingers dug into the meat of Jessenia’s lean thighs. She was as relentless here as she had been with Jessenia’s breasts, dragging a litany of wordless pleas from her lips, until Jessenia buried her hands in the wild curls again just to have a better way to make her desires known. And with every vicious tug, Annie responded ever more eagerly, until finally she moved her mouth down and dragged her tongue through the wetness waiting for her there.</p>
<p>Jessenia swore again, the wood panels on the wall digging into her shoulders as she rocked down against Annie’s mouth. One of Annie’s hands had shifted, her calloused fingers dragging through her folds as she spread Jessenia wide, rubbing into the ache there and doing little to ease it. Her deft tongue was equally skilled as it pushed up into Jessenia’s tight hole, the wet heat of it matching the fire that was slowly consuming her as she tightened her leg over Annie’s shoulder and twisted her fists in the tangle of hair.</p>
<p>The tongue pushing up into her was joined by one finger, two, Annie rocking them into her and dragging a helpless gasp from Jessenia’s lips with each lazy motion. Fingers and tongue worked together to finally, <em>finally</em> ease the tight ache that she’d suffered with from the moment Annie had slammed her against the wall.</p>
<p>Annie’s mouth trailed upward once more, her fingers delving deep as her tongue found its way back to Jessenia’s clit. And that was the thing that finally pushed her over the edge, the coiled heat in her belly igniting as her breath caught on a desperate cry. She rode the wave of pleasure with frantic, needy rocks of her hips, keeping Annie’s face trapped against her as she finally shuddered herself to pieces.</p>
<p>Her grip eased once she could see again, tiny quakes shivering through her as she let Annie pull her head free. Not that she trusted her balance right this moment, so it was something of a relief that the captain hadn’t tried to move out from between her legs, only pulled her fingers free and pressed her palms into the firm curve of Jessenia’s butt to keep her upright. She was gorgeous down there, the pink flush over her cheeks and the glisten of her lips more enticing than Jessnia could stand.</p>
<p>“Oh, you beautiful woman,” she breathed, her fingers easing in the red curls she’d tangled around Annie’s head, “the things I intend to do to you.”</p>
<p>“I thought I was meant to be ravishing you,” Annie replied, her voice husky and deep, the stain on her cheeks going darker still. Jessenia could feel the slight tremble in her hands, see the way her hips shifted restlessly, and the sight of it brought a smile to her lips.</p>
<p>“And I intend to return the favor.” She tugged once, imperiously, then carefully unhooked her leg from its hold over Annie’s shoulder. The quiver hadn’t quite left her thighs, but she could stand on her own, if only just. It was for the best that she didn’t plan to stand for long.</p>
<p>Beneath her, Annie sat back, rubbing the back of one hand against her mouth with an unconscious sort of grace. The flush on her cheeks spilled out over her shoulders and what Jessenia could see of her breasts, hiding the freckles that Jessenia still wanted to hunt for, and her other hand shifted to press at the crotch of her pants in a silent plea for more. That simply wouldn’t do; Jessenia had never left another woman wanting in her life, and she had no intention of doing so now.</p>
<p>“Well then, your loveliness,” Annie said, her blue eyes dark as she looked up and dragged her thumb over her lower lip much more deliberately this time, “where do you want me?”</p>
<p>“On the bed, I think. And if you’d be so kind as to get undressed, I should greatly appreciate it.” Jessenia’s smile widened at the way Annie’s breath caught on a near-silent moan.</p>
<p>She could say this much about Mad Annie: not only was her mouth magnificent, her figure was as well. The shirt and pants were much easier to remove when only one set of hands flicked the buttons open, Jessenia perfectly content to lean against the wall and watch as she steadied herself. It wasn’t just the swell of breasts and the curve of Annie’s shoulders that appealed to her, but the softness around her waist that hid muscle Jessenia had seen first hand, the way her vibrant curls spilled out over the divot of Annie’s spine before handing tantalizingly close to her butt. And Annie was absolutely shameless as she climbed on the bed, sprawling out with her thighs spread in invitation.</p>
<p>She straddled one of those generous thighs, feeling the firmness of muscle grinding up between her own legs, and caught Annie’s mouth in a lingering kiss. Jessenia could taste herself there on Annie’s tongue as she opened herself up, and she could taste the shape of her own name on Annie’s lips when her fingers slid low to bury in a different set of curls entirely.  </p>
<p>Annie was wet and eager, her legs shifting wider as Jessenia spread her fingers around the hard jut of her clit, the slickness of her cunt making it easy to glide over the sensitive flesh. Little hitching gasps escaped her with every touch, swallowed up by Jessenia’s mouth as she kissed her relentlessly, devouring every sound with greed. It wasn’t enough to have Annie beneath her—she wanted to have every sound, every touch, every inch of pleasure from her body before she was done.</p>
<p>It wouldn’t take long. Annie was already trembling, one hand squeezing Jessenia’s butt as the other fisted in the sheets, her hips twitching frantically as Jessenia drove her fingers harder against her clit. If she were a betting woman, she’d think that Annie had already climaxed once, simply on the act of giving pleasure.</p>
<p>In that case, she owed her quite a few more. Jessenia was so terribly grateful to be kidnapped, after all.</p>
<p>She finally let Annie up for air, caught her lower lip with her teeth and pushed her fingers down, deeper, until she could push them all the way in as well, her thumb grinding firmly against the much-abused nub that they left behind. The sweet, desperate moan that Annie let out was worth it, just as much as the tight clench of her hole around Jessenia’s fingers. The shake in her body grew worse, her soft cries trembling with the force of it, and Jessenia rocked herself against the firm muscle between her thighs as she whispered, “Come for me, Annie.”</p>
<p>What a wonderful thing, to see Annie fall apart. Her groan was deep and guttural, eyes fluttering shut as her lips parted, her back stiffening as she broke from Jessenia’s fingers alone. Jessenia drank it in with greedy eyes, her own hips rutting as she pulled her fingers free, pleasure coiling at the base of her spine as she used Annie’s trembling body for her own release.</p>
<p>They tumbled back against the sheets moments later, Jessenia’s legs still wrapped around Annie’s thigh, Annie’s hands grabbing for anything she could reach. Impossible to tell where one of them ended and the other began, and Jessenia didn’t bother to try. She only smoothed her palm over the sweet curve of Annie’s belly, caught it up under the soft pillow of one breast, and pressed a kiss to Annie’s neck where the skin was softer still.</p>
<p>“Don’t think I’m done with you yet,” Jessenia said, deliberately low and intimate. “I intend to use you all night. You did, after all, save me from a most terrible fate.”</p>
<p>“Oh hell,” Annie said back, her eyes wide and disbelieving. She’d clearly never had a woman as relentless as Jessenia in her bed before. It would be a wonderful learning experience for the both of them.</p>
<p>“Any objections?” Jessenia asked, catching one of Annie’s earlobes with her teeth and squeezing the fullness of her breast. There was still so much of her to explore, after all. Perhaps she’d need more than one night.</p>
<p>“You’re going to be the death of me,” Annie breathed. But she didn’t object.</p><hr/>
<p> </p>
<p></p><div class="center">
  <p>
    
  </p>
</div><hr/>
<p>
  <span>When she woke, it was the deep blue of the sky before sunrise, the captain’s quarters painted in purple shadow. Soft cotton tangled around her legs, body warm from the two of them, and Annie’s chest rose with the soft sound of her breathing, warmer still underneath Jessenia’s cheek. Not a dream then, though she hadn’t really thought it was—Jessenia’s dreams were ever the practical sort, not the kind where she ran off with a pirate and left her fame and fortune behind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She pushed herself upright, grabbing the heavy weight of her own hair off her shoulders as she carefully divested herself of Annie’s loose grip on her hip. Easy enough to lift it up and tie it back with another lock, fisting the waves into a tail that would keep it out of her face for the moment. Tempting though it was to linger, she had only so much time before the sun rose.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her dress was remarkably undamaged. Rather than bother with anything else, Jessenia tugged it on and swung Annie’s jacket on over it, slipping out of the room in bare feet. The layout of the ship was easy enough to remember and the grates above the engines were warm as she climbed up to the deck where the wood planks were not nearly so forgiving.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The view from the side of the ship was impressive, but not impressive enough. She continued on, past the mainsail, up another set up steps towards the front—whatever it was actually called—and the view that sang to her there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Far, far below the airship, the world unfolded, fields and forests so sharply delineated that it looked like a patchwork quilt rather than natural land. Her hungry eyes strained for every hint of detail slowly growing brighter as the sun peeked over the distant horizon, caught the tiny, unnatural shapes of buildings and the black lines of roads, rivers, or both. She leaned further forward, heedless of anything but the wonder of the earth painted underneath her feet like the most wonderful kind of exotic rug.</span>
</p>
<p>It was cold up here in the early morning, the thin air in the skin leaving her breathless as she leaned against the railing on the upper deck. Jessenia didn’t care to go down yet, the chill aside, and Annie’s jacket was warm enough for now. She wanted to see the world as it unfolded beneath them, and the grey-blue of dawn was the perfect time for that.</p>
<p>She’d loved the stage, and loved her company. Singing was her one true talent, the thing that she’d enjoyed being famous for, the thing that had felt right when the adoration had been distant and (mostly) innocent. But the Prince had changed that, and Annie had changed things further, so she thought now that it wouldn’t be so terrible to try something new.</p>
<p>A pirate could never stay in one place for long, lived a life of violence and trouble, took pleasure where they could and then embraced whatever death they were given. It was a fraught life, when it was a life at all.</p>
<p>It was <em> exciting</em>.</p>
<p>“You’re supposed to secure yourself when you’re up on deck,” Annie said from behind her, voice sleep-rough but amused. When Jessenia turned to look at her, her mess of firey curls had some attempt at taming them, but the attempt was meager at best. The wind whistling around the solar sails caught it and made it tangle further, until it might take a lifetime to get it all sorted out.</p>
<p>And really, there were worse things than spending a lifetime running her fingers through the hair of a beautiful woman. Jessenia favored her with a smile, hitching the jacket higher around her shoulders, then turned back towards the view. “Are there other rules I should know?”</p>
<p>“Oh, plenty. We have a charter and everything too that you ought to read. Safety regulations. The lot.” Mad Annie leaned against the railing next to her, the glow of sunlight spilling over her freckled cheeks. “We usually don’t give them to captives, considering the momentary nature of their stay here, but I could dig them up for you. If you were planning on staying, that is.”</p>
<p>“I might consider it,” Jessenia said, her smile spreading wider as she caught the gleam of the ocean far in the distance. The world seemed so much smaller from up here and she wanted to see it all. “You’d have to convince me, of course.”</p>
<p>“Come back to bed then, and I’ll convince you plenty.” And Annie <em> grinned</em>, that traitorous blush giving her away, her blue eyes promising the skies. She offered a hand, clearly intent on making good on her offer, the roughness of her palm its own reward.</p>
<p>Jessenia took the hand and the offer both, and let herself be led downstairs again. There’d be plenty more sunrises in her future.</p>
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